A key message from Brendon was that economic forecasting in today’s economy has become more like a martial art. Conditions were changing more quickly and this had been especially evident in the Finance and housing markets of recent months.

He said the outlook for the regions in 2009 would be not as bad as for the major centre’s because commodity prices were likely to remain strong.

However ,the short term outlook was not good, given the effects of high petrol prices, interest rate rises and a week property market. Higher inflation forecast to increase to 5% by the end of 2008 will also ensure that household spending will remain lower in the short to medium term.  Unemployment rates are also likely to continue to increase as the job market tightens.